Don't Go Far Into The Ocean
by CatStar
Summary: Mimi and her friends are at the beach! ^.^ She's ready for fun in the sun and quality time w/ Koushiro (slight MISHIRO ^.^). Unfortunately for Mimi, it's not so fun for her anymore when she hits the waves... literally. Will this summer be her last?
1. A Day at the Beach

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon ;.;  
  
**A/N: **Okay, it's 11 PM, so I'm just gonna make this short. This came to me in a dream. Enjoy! ^.^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Well, this is going to be fun," Sora Takenouchi said, grinning, as she stepped out of the Tachikawa's van and into the hot, summer sun of one of Japan's finest beaches. The temperature was at an estimate of ninety degrees- perfect weather to go swimming and have fun in the sun.  
  
"Of course it's going to be fun!" exclaimed Mimi Tachikawa, playfully hitting her with a beach ball that was left in the back of the van. "If it wasn't going to be fun, I wouldn't have invited you guys." She pulled her pink beach bag to her shoulders, and heavily breathed in the salt-scented air of the beach. Running out to the dock of her family's beach house, the brunette shaded her eyes and looked towards the sandy shores.  
  
"All right! Surf's up!" Taichi Yagami exclaimed. Grinning, he ran down the steps of the shore house and started to race towards the beach.  
  
"No! He can't!" cried Miyako Inoue, giggling after him. The tall, brown-haired  
boy was already splashing himself with the salted water. "We have to unpack! Taichi, come back here, that's not fair!"  
  
"No, not you too, Miyako!" Hikari Yagami, Taichi's little sister, shouted, running  
after her, carrying her own beach ball. "All of you guys, come back here, and unpack your things!"  
  
"Aw, you're a party pooper, Hikari," Daisuke Motomiya said, his mischievous  
brown eyes gleaming, his hands behind his back. Takeru Takaishi, Jyou Kido, and Iori Hida were with him, also hiding their hands behind their backs.  
  
Hikari frowned. "Well, we have to help Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa unpack things in the beach house, then come back. Right, Mimi?"  
  
Mimi nodded. Yes, that's what they were supposed to do. When she went down  
to her own beach house with her family in the previous years, her parents would always tell her to unpack before she went down to the beach.  
  
"Really?" Takeru said, a slow smile forming across his face. "I don't think you  
should unpack, Hikari. You seem a little wet."  
  
"Wet? What do you-"  
  
Suddenly, all four boys revealed water guns that they hid behind their backs.   
Shrieking and giggling, Hikari did her best to block the boys' shots. Her eyes squinted, not wanting the cold water to enter them. "You're gonna pay for that!" she cried, throwing her arms in front of her to help guide her way to their guns to take them away.  
  
Sora, Yamato Ishida, and Ken Ichijouji crept up behind the four guys, each  
pumping up their own water guns for more power. "No, no way, I don't think so!"  
Yamato yelled out, soaking his friends with his bigger and more powerful gun. Streams of cold water flooded through the air, as the seven friends chased each other down the sandy floors of the beach, soaking other people as they walked by. No one was mad, though. This was summer, and it was hot. Everyone loved a little cold water on hot days like this.  
  
Mimi giggled, watching them. She walked over to her parents who were still near the van, trying to unpack for their vacation. Squeezing out the water in her hair that soaked her from her friends' guns, she said to her parents, "Gomen nasai... They're a little excited."   
  
Her parents looked at each other and smiled. "No problem," her dad said, giving  
Mimi a box of clothing that was labeled "Iori Hida" on it. "They can go and hang out if they want to. It's their first time with us here, anyway. We're going to go easy on the unpacking rules for now."  
  
Koushiro Izumi, who was getting stuff from inside the van, jumped down. He  
looked at Mimi with his black eyes glittering from the golden sun up above him. His red hair seemed more intense as he clutched his pineapple laptop underneath his arm. He was the only one of Mimi's friends that was serious and helping to unpack during this vacation. Even though Mimi would go and like to have fun with her friends right now, she thought it would be more important to hang around Koushiro  
.  
It was a long school year for Mimi and everyone. Mimi and Koushiro would be  
starting their last year of Junior High; Yamato, Sora, and Taichi were done getting  
through their first year of High School; Miyako just got done her first year of Junior High; Ken was attending a great school, was making new friends, and was still the great genius everyone knew; Takeru, Hikari, and Daisuke will be starting their last year of Elementary school; Jyou was still studying to be a doctor; and Iori was still the same, but with new interests, confidence, and greater intelligence that filled up the curious mind of the boy.  
  
Since everyone had accomplished their new beginnings, or are beginning to begin the beginning of their new beginnings, Mimi thought it would be a great idea for all of them to come down to her beach house with her when school was let out. Obviously, everyone was excited and was into the summer spirit. She didn't know what she'd do without them- her friends, the Chosen Children.   
  
_I'm so lucky, _Mimi thought to herself, combing her fingers through her natural  
brown hair. She had had her hair dyed pink, but had gotten tired of dying the roots when it grew out. She had just let her natural brown hair grow, and had gotten used to it. _I think I like my natural color better, anyway, _she thought, admiring its gleam in the summer sun in her van's window.  
  
"Do you want me to take that?"  
  
"Huh?" Mimi whirled around and faced Koushiro's handsome face. Besides  
Mimi's hair, he too, had grown a lot. He was taller, but still short for his age; he was just an inch taller than Mimi. He grinned down at her, holding his laptop and his own water gun. "Do you want me to take that box?"  
  
"No... iie, arigatou. I got it," Mimi replied, smiling at him. She pulled back the  
strap of her pink beach bag again. It was slipping from her shoulders.  
  
"Well, at least let me carry you're bag," he said, eyeing it. "I don't think it likes  
your shoulder very much."  
  
Mimi giggled. "Okay, you win," she said, pulling the bag from her shoulders and  
handing it to him. They walked through the door of the beach house and instantly, the smell of a warm, inviting home flooded through them. This beach house was huge- three floors, fifteen bedrooms; each room was bursting with pastel colors and old fashioned settings. It seemed more like a mansion than a beach house. Mimi always loved entering it.  
  
"Let's put them down here," Mimi suggested, referring to the living room. The  
whiteness of the furniture welcomed her for another stay. "I don't know where the others want to sleep. When they come back in, they can go and claim their rooms." She put down the box of Iori's clothing, and Koushiro did the same with Mimi's bag, his water gun, and his laptop.  
  
"I'm really happy that you invited us over here, Mimi," Koushiro told her, holding  
her hands in his. "I thought I wouldn't get to see you, since I knew you always went to the beach for about three weeks every summer."  
  
"Oh, Koushiro..." Mimi said softly. "No way would I leave you back in Odaiba.   
I'd miss you too much. I'm glad you could come." She smiled at him and pulled him  
close.  
  
Mimi and Koushiro are complete opposites. Mimi was a happy-go-lucky girl who  
loved to shop, was into fashion, and was mainly very spoiled sometimes. Koushiro was a young gentleman, even at the age of ten. He was a genius, polite, studious, and kind- every mother's dream son. Who knew that they would feel attracted to each other during the year? Who knew that these two Chosen Children, who were as alike as night and day, would end up dating each other? Not anyone else at school, and certainly not themselves. But here they were, kissing each other softly in the middle of the Tachikawa's beach house, with the sweet sounds of the ocean right near them. They had helped change each other. Koushiro had become more outgoing in the past year, and Mimi had vowed to become more studious, like her boyfriend.  
  
"Mimi!" her mother called out. Koushiro and Mimi quickly broke apart their kiss.  
  
"Yes, Mama?" she answered back, hoping that her cheeks weren't as red as she  
thought they were. Her mother came in and saw her, a knowing smile spread across her face. Mimi remembered the first time she told her mother she was dating Koushiro Izumi, one of the geniuses of the Tokyo districts. She was delighted.  
  
"The can is unpacked now," her mother told her. "You can go hang with your  
friends at the beach. They seem like they're really enjoying themselves."  
  
Mimi knew that her father had said that they would go easy on the rules, but she wasn't sure she should go. From dating Koushiro, she had also developed a sense of responsibility. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Sure." Mrs. Tachikawa grinned.   
  
"All right!" Mimi exclaimed, grabbing Koushiro's water gun and running out the  
door, giggling madly.  
  
"Hey!!" he shouted, half annoyed, half amused. "That's my water gun!!" He ran  
out the door.  
  
Once again, Mimi breathed in the fresh salt water of the sea. She kicked off her sandals and felt the soft, pale sand beneath her feet. The beach was just right- some people were just lying around, soaking up the sun, but it wasn't over-crowded. As the sand got deeper, she pumped her legs higher as she ran.  
  
She grinned and turned around, seeing her red-headed boyfriend chase after her. Acting just like her friends, she pumped up the water gun one... two... three times... and shot out the beam of water directly at his face.  
  
He shut his eyes, then slowly opened them, blinking; not wanting to let the water  
enter his eyes. "You'll pay for that, Mimi Tachikawa!" he exclaimed, running toward her. The sand from underneath his feet shot out from behind as he ran. He leaped up, and tackled her.  
  
Shrieking, she tried to pump up the water gun again, but his strong hands had  
prevented her to move the slide to gain power. He finally grabbed it out of her hands and saw the first person in front of them. "Ken, catch!" he yelled.  
  
Ken expertly caught the water gun, slightly slipping from the wetness of his own  
hands. His own water gun had disappeared somewhere. "Hey, thanks!" he replied,  
pumping up the gun and shooting it toward Miyako. She had two guns.  
  
Koushiro gently kissed Mimi on her lips, forcing most of his weight on her. Mimi  
winced. "Koushiro, get off, you're heavy," she joked, pulling him slightly away from her.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Either I have to lose weight, or you need to pump some  
weights."  
  
Mimi giggled and hugged him tightly. "Silly. I was just joking. I like you the way you are," she said, kissing him lightly on the nose.  
  
"Hey, love birds!" Yamato said, pointing them with a gun. "Get up from each  
other. You're gonna make me sick," he said jokingly, his azure eyes sparkling as clear as the sky above them.  
  
Mimi just grinned, and stood up, kicking the soft sand his way, covering his feet  
with it. He squirted her with his gun, but it suddenly ran out. He didn't have enough water left.  
  
"Too bad, Yamato," Koushiro said, grinning.   
  
"That's the bad thing about those things," Mimi supplied. "They always run out.   
That's why, you need to go into the ocean and get as much soaking done as you want." With that, she took off her top and shorts, revealing a bright pink Nike bathing suit. Grinning, she looked at everyone. "Anyone wanna come out with me?"  
  
"No thanks... I'll get sea sick," Jyou said.  
  
Sora smiled and rolled her eyes. "Everyone didn't have their swimsuits ready  
except you, Mimi. Just go ahead without us."  
  
Mimi looked at Koushiro, who shrugged. "I'll swim with you later, Mimi."  
  
Walking out towards the shoreline, she felt the sand beneath her feet become  
slightly shallow and damp. Wet beads of sand soaked through her toes in the cold, soft, squishy feeling she loved from it. The water was now at ankle length, as she was getting ready to run out and throw herself at the warm water. Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
She turned around, expecting it to be Koushiro. But instead, she found Hikari, her bright crimson eyes full of concern and worry. The rest of her friends were running around and tackling each other behind her, but she was just standing there, looking at Mimi. Her auburn hair flowed through the wind, framing her face.  
  
"Hikari?" Mimi inquired her. "What's wrong?"  
  
In a quiet voice, Hikari replied, "Don't go out too far, Mimi. It might be  
dangerous. Don't go far into the ocean."  
  
Mimi's eyes softened. She was filled with warmth at the young girl's sudden  
concern of her safety. She knew that Hikari once had a tough time with an ocean. A dark ocean, to be exact. Hikari was pulled into a world of darkness and was scared to death. A Digimon kept on calling her back, pulling her to the Digital World from the real world. The Digimon needed help, and Hikari used her lighted powers to free them from the chains that held them. It turned out that they wanted more from her than just to be freed. That was a long time ago, but the memory was still stuck in Hikari's head.  
  
Mimi smiled a soft, reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Hikari. I'll be careful."   
  
She turned away from her friends, facing the slow gently waves of the sea. Its blue sparkle was just so amazing. The water was clean and clear, as if you could see the bottom of the deepest trench. Mimi walked out until the water was waist-length. Then, she slipped into a slow breast stroke, now smelling the water's fresh salt scent near her own nose. She had been to the beach plenty of times, and was a great swimmer. Turning her body, she turned her breast stroke into a back stroke, laying comfortably in the water.  
  
She closed her eyes, feeling the gentle breeze brush against her face. She heard the gulls, crowing loudly in the azure sky up above her. She was so intent on listening to the birds and the soft whish-washing of the waves, that she didn't hear an urgent voice call out her name from the shore. It was one of her friends. Hikari? Koushiro? All of them? They were calling out to her, in desperate, urgent tones. Mimi wondered what was up. She then opened her eyes, only to find a tidal wave rise over her, and push her down below the ocean.  
  
Mimi tried to scream, but the salt water only got stuck inside her throat. She tried to breathe, but only water got stuck inside her nose, and filled up her lungs. _Water! Water everywhere!_ she thought. Bubbles from the pressure surrounded her and hit against her skin in the lightest, deadliest way she could possibly imagine.  
  
_Koushiro! Help me!_ she screamed in her mind, her eyes shutting tightly, not  
wanting any of the salt water to enter and sting her pupils. She shot her legs and arms out, trying to find oxygen against her creamy skin. But it was just water. Water everywhere. Surrounding her, pushing her in, until she just calmed down and felt herself being swept up away south, the direction of the shore.... Seeing nothing but darkness... Feeling nothing.... As if she were asleep... Feeling nothing... Not even her heartbeat, or her own lungs rising in her chest....  
  
Darkness.  
  
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Like it, love it, hate it, please review. Dont worry there's gonna be other chapters... of COURSE I'm not ending it there ^.^ (sorry, it's 11 PM, I'm tired, but I just had to write this -.-* )  
  
  



	2. Three Years Later....

  
Mimi woke up to the sounds of birds chirping happily in the azure sky. As soon as she opened her eyes, the sun greeted her with a golden glaze that shined down toward the earth. Mimi blinked and started to notice that her friends had just laid her on the beach. She was covered with sand. She brushed some of the sand off of her dress. Her hand reached up to her brown hair and immediately thought, _Oh great, my hair must be a mess.  
_  
It took about two minutes for her to realize that something was wrong.  
  
Mimi blinked and looked at the dress she was wearing. It was a pink long-sleeved dress, covered in white flowers. It was a full length dress, the kind that she hated. She didn't like wearing long skirts. Besides, she remembered that she was wearing a pink bathing suit. She knew this. Then why was she wearing a dress?  
  
Her hair wasn't even the slightest bit damp. She had just come from the ocean.   
Her hair would dry up, but it would've taken a while. Mimi shivered, as she remembered the horrible surrounding water that pressed her deep into the ocean floor. Bubbles burst around her. There was no air, no oxygen to help her burning lungs. Some how, she new that she was pulled to shore by someone. "Where is everyone?" she wondered aloud. "No one could have left me here.... could they?"   
  
Mimi got up and walked up the secluded beach to where her beach house was.   
"My friends will be there," she told herself, feeling the sand squeeze between her bare toes. "Uck, and I can't wait to get out of this dress!" She glanced down at it.  
  
When she finally got up to the house, she turned the knob, ready to walk in and  
ask everyone why they had left her out there. To her surprise, the knob was stuck. The door was locked.  
  
She rang the door bell and knocked on the door. When there was no answer, she did it again. And again. And again. Finally, she just went over to the side where she knew there was a window. Mimi looked inside the house, and her eyes widened in shock.  
  
It was empty. No furniture. No boxes. No people.  
  
Mimi stepped away from the house and ran over to the other side where she her  
family had parked their van. There was no van. She sat on the front steps, bewildered. "They couldn't have when back to Odaiba without me, could they? I mean... to just leave me out there, on the beach, with an ugly dress on.... Why, that's so mean!" she exclaimed to nobody. "Koushiro... where are you? I need you, Koushiro..." she whispered. Then, she stood up. "There's got to be a phone somewhere," she realized.  
  
With the rocky sense of dirt under her bare feet, she walked towards the  
boardwalk that was about five miles down from where she was right now. The breeze blew. She shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself. "Not only is this dress ugly, but the material is thin," she muttered.  
  
When she looked up ahead of her, something caught her eye. It was the  
movement of people. Three people. Two of them were boys. Tall. One of them had  
blonde hair and blue eyes- eyes that were as blue as the sky above her. He had the body of a basketball player. The other one had black hair and dark eyes, serious and brooding. Mimi, Guardian of Purity, felt innocence rise from the two of them. Especially the girl. The girl was shorter than them and was holding hands with the blonde. Her auburn hair was shoulder-length, and was held to the side with pink barrettes. Her crimson eyes reflected the sun, and she walked with confidence between her two friends.  
  
They seemed vaguely familiar to Mimi.   
  
"Um, hello? Konnichiwa!" she called out to the three, waving her hand in the air.   
They had caught site of her. The two boys looked surprised. Shocked, even. Mimi  
sensed fear. The girl with them had fear, yes, but another sense. _Pity? Relief? _ Mimi couldn't tell what it was.  
  
As the threesome got closer, they became more familiar to Mimi, but she still  
couldn't quite place them.  
  
"Mimi..." the black-haired boy whispered in shock.  
  
"She knew... how did she...?" the blonde stammered, looking back and forth  
toward Mimi and the auburn-haired girl. The girl showed sadness in her eyes as tears started to well up. Her eyes also had a confident sense to them. As if she knew that something was very right.  
  
"Um, hi," Mimi said to them, feeling slightly self-conscious of them staring at her. _ How did they know my name? _"Um, I want to know where a phone is? See, my friends sorta of, um," she laughed nervously, "left me here that the beach. I just woke up, and I couldn't find any of them. So I'd appreciate it if you-"  
  
"You don't remember," said the girl, sadly. "Do you, Mimi?"  
  
Mimi stared.  
  
"I knew this would happen." The girl stepped away from her friends. "I told you, Mimi. I told you not to go far into the ocean."  
  
_Hikari? _Mimi thought dizzily. _It can't be! Hikari is in elementary school. This  
girl looks as if she'd be about sixteen-years-old! _ She squinted at the girl. She had  
Hikari's features: her hair, eyes, face. But she knew it wasn't her. It was impossible. Mimi looked at the girl's friends. They looked like Ken and Takeru. Both had their features, too, only they were older. _ It can't be,_ she thought. _They're not this old!  
_  
"Who are you?" Mimi demanded. Her voice was shaking. "Where are my  
parents? My friends? What did you do to Koushiro? I swear, if you hurt any of them, I'll..." Her threat hung in the air. The trio didn't look intimidated. They tended to get upset by the moment.  
  
"We came back, Mimi," the girl said, "because this is the anniversary. _Your_  
anniversary. No one else had the nerve to come. We were the only ones. I thought this would happen sometimes, but I didn't tell anyone. No offense, guys," she added, looking at her friends. "But I knew that no one would believe me." Her voice was calm and serious.  
Mimi just stared. "Nani?"  
  
"Mimi, it's me, Hikari," the girl said.  
  
She closed her eyes. _No... this is not Hikari....  
_  
"And Takeru and Ken, too," the blonde said, taking the hand of the girl who  
claimed she was Hikari.  
  
_No... it can't be... Impossible...  
_  
Mimi opened her eyes. "Fine. If you're really them, then prove it!"  
  
The trio looked at each other. Slowly, they each pulled out something from their pockets. Each of them black, pink, and green.  
  
Mimi sucked in her breath. _D-3's....  
_  
She felt like she was about ready to faint. "Hikari...? Takeru...? Ken...?" she  
whimpered softly, falling to her knees.  
  
"Today is the anniversary, Mimi," Ken said, repeating what Hikari said a few  
moments ago.  
  
"It's the anniversary," Hikari said quietly, "of the day you died."  
  
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**A/N: **Yes, I know this chapter is short. The next one will be longer o.o;  



	3. 

**A/N: **From now until I say so, the chapters are in Mimi's POV ^.^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
My name is Mimi Tachikawa, fourteen years old; student at Odaiba Junior High.  
  
I have brown hair and brown eyes. My favorite color is pink. My favorite subjects in school are home ec. and art. My worst subjects are math and Japanese history.  
  
I can be a little stubborn, and I can whine a little. Okay, maybe a lot. Most people tell me that I have a pure sense, and I am very sincere most of the time. Maybe it's because I have a big mouth. I'm not sure. My boyfriend is Koushiro Izumi, which is totally ironic, since he is the total opposite of me. All in all, I am a regular teenager.  
  
And I have just found out I was dead.  
  
I'm writing all of this stuff down on a notebook in my old room, because I want  
people to know my bizarre story. I know that if my friends go out and tell it, people will think they are just nuts. I won't be able go tell my story by mouth, since people won't be able to see me. See, I only have a couple of moments to write all this down, so I have to write fast, and make sure my hand doesn't cramp up.   
  
I'll start off with when Hikari told me I was dead.  
  
"It's the anniversary," she had said quietly, "of the day you died."  
  
I was really ready to fall down. I wanted to close my eyes. I wanted to go back to sleep so that the dream could end. Then, when the dream did end, I would wake up, and start a new day. The dream would fade. All of it. This whole illusion would go away.  
  
"It's not a dream, Mimi," Hikari said, as if reading my thoughts. She and her  
friends put their D-3's away. "Come with me to the ocean, Mimi." With that, she walked away, squeezing Takeru's hand. To both Takeru and Ken, she asked, "Are you guys okay?"  
  
"Um... hai," Ken replied, feeling a little shaken. "I just didn't understand.... Why  
didn't you tell us?"  
  
"Yeah, Hikari," Takeru said. "I would've understood. I know you are capable of some sixth-sense thing that we don't have."  
  
Hikari shrugged. "Gomen. I didn't think anyone would believe me. So I kept it a secret."  
  
I just stared blankly ahead, her feet feeling as if I was barely touching the ground. I didn't know what to say. "Hikari?" I caught up to my fellow Chosen Children. I felt so weird, calling this older girl Hikari. The Hikari that I knew wasn't like this. "What...how long has it been...?" I was at a loss for words.  
  
"Three years," Takeru answered for Hikari. We kept on walking down the beach, towards the shoreline.  
  
_Three years... No wonder... My gosh, they've aged! _ I stared at the high school  
students in front of me. I saw it now. Now I knew why they had seemed so familiar. _ And I've been dead this whole time... And didn't even know it...?_  
  
_How can you be dead, and not know it?  
_  
The thought struck me like a thousand bolts. It was just completely preposterous. I had been dead, but I didn't even know I was dead. I pinched herself. It hurt. My body was mine. It was as real as anybody's body. My skin, my hair, the dress, all of it. You could touch it, feel it. "It... it doesn't seem like I'm dead," I admitted.  
  
Hikari looked at me. We were at the shoreline. "I know. It doesn't look like  
you're dead either," she admitted back. "Not like how you were in the casket."  
  
I closed my eyes. Casket. I was in a casket. Three years ago. An old, cold, soft, deadly velvety casket. I shuddered. All the death talk was making me dizzy.  
  
"Put your hand in the water, Mimi," Hikari instructed.  
  
I did as I was told.  
  
Suddenly, I was transferred to a scene at the beach. I sighed in relief. There were my friends! All young again. Koushiro was there. That made me so happy. If you didn't even realize until now, I loved Koushiro. I really wanted to put my arms around him, to hug him and to kiss him, but something held me back. I looked at the others. Hikari, Takeru, and Ken were all thirteen-years-old. Everything was normal. Until Jyou had dragged a body out of the ocean. It was my body. I was watching my own body.  
  
I felt a chill go down my back.  
  
"My God...." gasped Sora, rushing over to the scene. "She's so pale! Jyou, do  
something!"  
  
I watched as Jyou gently touched his fingers to my wet neck. Then, he closed in on my nose, trying to see if I was breathing. I know now that I was not. My pale face was sweating drops of salt water, and my hair was so messed up, that it took all of my willpower to just run and fix it with a brush. But there was one problem. One, I was just watching this illusion from my sub-conciousness. Two, I didn't have a brush with me.  
  
Jyou looked up, his dark eyes troubled. "I can't find a pulse. She's not breathing. Koushiro?" He turned to look at him. "Can I? Or will you be too jealous?"   
  
A joke. Very un-Jyou-like. He would never be able to make up a half-hearted  
joke at a time like this. Or maybe he would. I don't know. I never really understood his sense of humor.  
  
Koushiro managed a small smile, but I could see that he just wanted to break down and scream. He didn't like seeing my body so cold and helplessly dead. His eyes darted back and forth between my cold body and my friends. "Go ahead, Jyou. Please, help her."  
  
Jyou then gently pinched my nose and lowered his lips onto mine. He started  
breathing air into me. One, two, three times. He then lowered his hands onto my chest and started to press lightly onto my heart, trying to pump it up and get a heartbeat. And one and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight and nine and ten.... He repeated the process.  
  
Blow in, one... two.. three....  
  
Pump one, two, three, four, five..... ten.  
  
Blow in, one, two, three....  
  
Pump one, two, three, four, five..... ten.  
  
It was a tiring process, for I was getting bored watching. I knew it was hopeless. It was bizarre, but I knew I was dead. I just wished I could've heard that wave coming. I know what waves sound like. I've been going to the beach ever since I was a little girl. I smacked myself inwardly, chiding myself about my stupidity.  
  
Jyou listened in to see if I was breathing. Nothing. He put his fingers to my neck to see if my pulse was beating. Again, nothing. He tried something different. He took my left hand and put his fingers against the bottom on my wrist. Nothing. I was dead. And he knew it.  
  
He looked up to my friends' faces. He didn't have to say anything. They knew  
already. Koushiro kneeled down next to me and softly kissed my face, stroking my wet hair. Everyone started crying. I hated that sound. The sound of crying is so sad. I wanted to tell them that I was there, watching the whole thing. I wanted to let them know that I was okay. Most of all, I wanted Koushiro to hold me in his arms again.   
  
I felt something wet against my face. A cold, wet feeling. I put my hand to my  
cheek. Then I realized.  
  
I was crying, too.  
  
I watched as they carried my body to the beach house.  
  
I watched as my parents came out, and took me in their arms.  
  
I was watching all of this, although I was dead. I didn't know why.  
  
I blinked. I was no longer at the beach.  
  
I blinked again as the scenery just transformed before me. I really was no longer at the beach, watching as my friends and family tried to help my cold, dead body. Instead, a swarm of people were around me. All of them had blank looks on their faces, talking to each other, mingling. But there was something very depressing about this scene that didn't seem to get by me just yet. Then something hit me. I didn't really know why, but I felt relief. I mean, there were all these people! Familiar faces that I knew. I saw everybody from school, my friends, my family. Everyone.  
  
I saw a girl, Hitomi, who used to be from my art class. I nearly jumped with joy! I hadn't seen her in ages! See, she moved to the Nakano district of Tokyo a few months ago. We were very close. Excitedly, I ran up to her. "Hitomi! Hey, what's up?? I-" Suddenly, I stopped.  
  
Hitomi walked up to Sora and Yamato, who were there too, with a somber look  
on her face. Her purple blouse clung well to her body and her black skirt moved with a nice flow. I looked at her green eyes that glowed with her black hair. I saw something that I thought would never come from her. Tears. Tears welled up in her eyes, from Hitomi Sakushi's eyes, which was the entrance to the soul of a spirited, happy, cheerleader.  
  
For the first time, I had noticed that everyone was wearing dark clothes. Everyone was talking quietly. And everyone was crying.  
  
"I can't believe it," Hitomi told them, quietly. She squeezed her eyes shut, which made this very confident girl look so scared and hopeless.  
  
"She was a nice girl," commented Sora, hugging Hitomi. "Jyou did what he could. I guess she was down so far for so long. It's so upsetting," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes and pulled away. "Why did she have to die???"  
  
My heart ached. Me. She was talking about me. I listened some more.  
  
"Don't worry, Sora," Yamato said quietly to her. He laid a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hai." Taichi walked up to them, his brown hair as messy as always. But the  
courageous leader of the Chosen Children took Sora in his arms and hugged her tightly. "It's all right. She's in a better place right now."  
  
My eyes then wandered around at the sad people within the room. Crying.   
Hugging. Reassuring each other. My parents were up that the front, greeting the people that walked down the aisle. Something at the front caught my eye. It was a brown, wooden box that was laying open. Red silk lined it from the inside. My heart stopped beating. I raced up to the front, not even caring that it was so weird that I just floated right through everybody.   
  
I looked inside the box. I recognized the face. Wavy brown hair. Purity and  
innocence shining through the lifeless body. The dress. It was me. Mimi Taichikawa. In my casket. At my funeral.  
  
I grabbed the edge of the casket. Suddenly, I felt as if I couldn't even stand up, and I had to hold myself to keep my balance. _No!_ I cried in my head. _No! It's not me! It can't be me!_ I couldn't be me, for the purity was mine, but the body wasn't. This may sound crazy, but I looked.... well.... fatter. I didn't look like myself. Pale. Hopeless. Weak. Not one ounce of life in myself. That wasn't me. The Mimi Tachikawa I knew was high-spirited, a little stubborn, a little spoiled, happy-go-lucky. I knew that I loved my friends. This body, this person, who was laying still as the dead in the coffin in a bad dress, was not me.  
  
But no matter how much I said "no," the answer was always "yes."  
  
The music started. Everyone was seated quietly. I, too, sat down as the funeral began.


End file.
